Sleep pattern – waking naturally without an alarm
You now know how much sleep you require to be at your best. Next, you need to work out your natural sleep pattern and then set your alarm for that time. It is recommended to wake in a light level sleep rather than deep level. When awakened from a deep sleep, you will feel very disorientated and sleepy and will need a few minutes to gather your bearings and get going. Using the apps below, you can work out your best rise time, waking more alert and refreshed.
Decide the time you wish to rise in the morning and using these strategies, set your rise time.
Download this app to find your natural sleep cycle – https://www.sleepcycle.com/how-sleep-cycle-works/. Hint: This app will wake you up to 20 mins either side of your desired wake up time so you will need to factor this in on work days.
Once you know your natural wake and sleep cycle, then use this app, https://sleepyti.me/ to work out the time you need to set your bedtime to wake in a natural period. You will awaken feeling much more refreshed and lucid. Once you set your natural sleep patterns and stick to your new bedtime and rise time, you will no longer require an alarm clock. I have not used an alarm clock in over 5 years as my natural wake/sleep cycles are set. Sleep cycles are 90 – 120 minutes in length and are set for each individual. I know my sleep cycles are around 100mins rather than 90minutes, so I set my rise time accordingly.
Even if I wanted to sleep in, I would find it difficult to get back off to sleep. I wake naturally at 5am, which I choose to do as I enjoy waking early, so yes, I am one of “those” people. I like to fit in my morning routine before work. If I were to go back to sleep, I would most likely wake naturally again around 6.45am. If I had to be up by 6am, I would need an alarm to wake me and be woken from a deep sleep feeling washed out. It would have been more beneficial just getting up at my regular time. My sleep number is 7 hours, so in that case, I would have overslept my natural cycle resulting in feeling less motivated throughout the morning. Mood and alertness will always be better waking in light sleep than deep.